The Kenyan women’s hockey team kicked off the African Games on the wrong footing after falling 4-1 to Ghana at the Theodosia Okoh Stadium on Sunday.  Ordinarily, matches pitting Kenya and Ghana are closely contested but the host capitalized on home advantage to floor the second best team in the continent.

Ghana broke the deadlock in the ninth minute through Elizabeth Opoku who has a rich history of scoring in this fixture and against Kenyan clubs in the club championships.  Berko Marvis doubled the advantage for Ghana in the 19th minute, sounding the board from a penalty corner.

Vivian Narkuor’a field goal in the 27th minute stretched the advantage to Ghana who had the best possible start in the encounter as by the time the teams went for half time they had a healthy lead.

Opoku who doubles up as the skipper sealed her brace and the fourth goal for Ghana in the 33rd minute much to the disappointment of the Kenyan girls who were hoping to work on a possible come back from the third quarter.  Kenya grabbed the consolation goal in the 56th minute through Vivian Onyango who scored from the spot.

While the result doesn’t reflect the potential of the Kenyan team, it  tells the entire story of what ill preparations can do to the confidence of players.  The team that arrived a day to the start didn’t play test matches and travelled without important members of the technical bench due to limited funding.

Apart from coach Meshack Senge, the only other technical bench member accompanying the team is manager Jane Nyamogo.  Senge’s charges will look to redeem themselves when they play Nigeria on Tuesday.

In the absence of South Africa who withdrew, Ghana and Kenya stand a chance of clinching the title. The African champions reportedly cited ill preparations by the host country  and the state of the pitch for their withdrawal.

Source: www.michezoafrika.com | March 18, 2024